Driver named suspect in Brebes train crash
The Jakarta Post, Brebes
The driver of the Empu Jaya train that collided with another train in Brebes, Central Java, killing at least 30 people on Tuesday, has been labeled a "suspect", police said Wednesday.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng said driver Muhamad To'at, who is receiving treatment for his injuries at the Tanjung General Hospital in Brebes, was negligent and caused the death of others.
Muhamad had reportedly ignored signals and diverted his train -- bound for Yogyakarta from Jakarta -- onto the track where the Jakarta to Surabaya-bound Gaya Baru Malam was stopped at the Ketanggungan station in Brebes.
Tegal Police chief Sr. Comr. Rismawan told The Jakarta Post separately on Wednesday that Muhamad was accused of violating Article 359 of the Indonesian Criminal Code which carried a maximum five year jail term for negligence.
Erwin also added that 20 other railway employees were being questioned as investigations into the tragic head-on collision continued.
Earlier in the day the head of state-owned railway company PT KAI in Cirebon, Abdul Madjid, said an internal investigation was also underway. "We may need three days to question them as most of them are still in very serious shock."
Meanwhile, Erwin, and PT KAI officials confirmed on Wednesday that the driver of the Gaya BAru Malam train, Sutrisno, was still alive. He had reportedly been killed in the accident.
Sutrisno was quoted by his boss Djusman Manurung, the head of PT KAI in Purwokerto, as saying that he had been terribly shocked and had fled the accident scene to report the smash directly to Djusman in Purwokerto.
Sutrisno, one of the key witnesses in the accident, arrived at the Purwokerto railway station at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He was taken to Cirebon early Wednesday before police brought him to Semarang, Erwin confirmed.
"We will use psychologists to question all the witnesses," he said.
Abdul Madjid told reporters on Wednesday morning that the number of fatalities was 30, not 54 as he had announced on Tuesday.
"We apologize for the inaccurate data. Engineer (driver) Sutrisno was also recorded dead yesterday. There was chaos yesterday. Records on the number of deaths were made in a very rushed situation and made by several persons at several places. Now we are handling the records here. The number of deaths is 30," he reiterated.
Meanwhile, the Central Java chapter of the National Awakening Party (PKB) urged Minister of Transportations Agum Gumelar, Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi and the management of PT KAI step down following the series of train accidents this year.
With 30 people killed in the Brebes' train crash, the total number of fatalities in 13 train accidents so far this year stands at 145.
Meanwhile PKB Central Java chapter chairman HM Muzammil told The Jakarta Post that it would facilitate class action against the government in response to the fatal train accidents.
"The Central Java chapter of PKB is ready to help people launch their class action over the repeated fatal accidents. We are ready to accommodate public complaints about train accidents," he said from Semarang on Wednesday.
"Our party has instructed its legal aid and human rights aid body to thoroughly study the case, and in the near future the party will appoint an independent lawyer to help the relatives of the victims or those affected by the train accidents," he said.